In a paper published last year, Nestlé scientists claimed to "discover" what much of the world has known for millennia: that nigella sativa extract could be used for nutritional interventions in humans with food allergy.

But instead of creating an artificial substitute, or fighting to make sure the remedy was widely available, Nestlé is attempting to create a nigella sativa monopoly and gain the ability to sue anyone using it without Nestlés permission. Nestlé has filed patent applications -- which are currently pending -- around the world.

Prior to Nestlé's outlandish patent claim, researchers in developing nations such as Egypt and Pakistan had already published studies on the same curative powers Nestlé is claiming as its own. And Nestlé has done this before -- in 2011, it tried to claim credit for using cows milk as a laxative, despite the fact that such knowledge had been in Indian medical texts for a thousand years.